By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
WHEN a Fountain Gate shoe store suddenly organised a surprise benefit for a sick young local girl, no-one was more surprised than her family.
Such was Sally Mylonas’s surprise when the team from Vereys Shoes at Westfield Fountain Gate organised a fund-raiser on Saturday for her two-year-old daughter, Sophy, who suffers from cystic fibrosis.
Owner Cim Hoyton had heard of the Team Sophy initiative through a friend and wanted to do anything she could to help fund the equipment the young toddler needs to live with her illness.
Ms Hoyton said the weekend’s fundraiser was a great success, with a range of activities available for all those people who came out to support Sophy.
“We had a lot of our regular customers but also a lot of people I hadn’t seen before. Many people dressed up in costume,” she said.
“The support people showed was great, so generous. People blew me away with their generosity.”
With $3,000 expected to be the final tally from Saturday’s fund-raiser, Ms Mylonas said she was so humbled by the support for her daughter.
“I am eternally grateful,” she said.
“I get overwhelmed at the support and things people do for someone else’s child.”
Ms Mylonas and her family and friends are one step closer to raising the $12,000 required for a medical vest designed to clear the airways of those who suffer from cystic fibrosis.
Ms Mylonas is passionate about raising awareness of cystic fibrosis and aims to help create an annual fund-raising event.
For more information on cystic fibrosis and Sophy’s condition, visit www.teamsophy.com
